iPhone 3G: The waiting is getting old

Waiting for Apples' iPhone 3G encampment. Large tupperware container is full of worms.

(Credit: Caroline McCarthy/CNET News.com)

NEW YORK--A message to those of you thinking of hopping in line for the iPhone 3G at the Fifth Avenue flagship store here: there are thunderstorms predicted. Please stay home and spend some time with your friends, families, and pets. You're just going to get a sunburn and look silly.

Plus, a scrappy half-dozen activists who call themselves Waiting for Apples are going to get all the positive press. They're hoping to set a Guinness World Record as well as spread the buzz about sustainable agriculture, and are waiting in line with a solar-power generator, a bunch of yoga mats, a compost bin full of hungry worms, a soundtrack of the Talking Heads' More Songs About Buildings And Food, and an adorable six-month-old--don't worry, she's only there for a few hours a day, has plenty of shade, and will stay home if it's rainy or sweltering.

They might have also soaked up the last bit of novelty associated with waiting in line for a shiny new gadget for days, if only because nobody thought to bring live worms to a product launch before. Anybody else, well, let's just say I can't guarantee I'll be so nice to you. Waiting in line for the iPhone is officially as passé as, "Dude! You're getting a Dell!"

News.com Poll

Apple's latest and greatest
Will you buy an iPhone 3G?

Yes, I'll be one of the first in line.
Yes, but I'm going to avoid the launch rush.
No, I'm not interested.

View results

Remember last year's snaking line? The funny thing is that no one left the Apple Store that night without a phone. Apple's retail process was impressively streamlined, so that if you showed up right after the phone debuted, you'd still have gotten one an hour or so later. Multiday line-waiters were matched within hours by people who smelled much fresher than they did.

Then the folly of it all was added to even more when Apple slashed $200 off the price of the iPhone just more than two months after it hit stores, meaning that everyone who'd waited in line to buy one looked a tad overeager. And dare I say that after the tech press jumped all over the pre-launch hullaballoo of Sony's PlayStation 3, Nintendo's Wii, the video game Halo 3, and Apple's own Leopard software, the whole "wait in line for a gadget for days on end" thing has just gotten tacky.

Some people say they're doing it for the "experience." Well, if your idea of "experience" is sitting on your butt for five days, subsisting on hot dogs and salted pretzels, more power to you. There are plenty of other "experiences" to be had in New York that could be uncovered in about ten seconds of Web searching, all of which are much less sedentary and much less sunburn-y.

Others are doing it for the publicity, either for personal gain, to collect donations for charity, or to promote some kind of cause celebre. But answer this for me, without any Googling: which charities were represented by people waiting in line for the iPhone last year?

Can't name many, right? That's the thing. Last year, it was quirky ad agency Anomaly that walked away from the iPhone launch with good press by waiting there to support Keep A Child Alive; this year, it's more or less already established that Waiting for Apples will be the one people remember, if any. Last year, marketers flooded the iPhone line to hand out T-shirts, stickers, snacks, and anything that might get some visibility; the atmosphere got so clogged that single brands and causes quickly got jumbled in the chaos. That kind of PR-soaked atmosphere just isn't that efficient for promotion.

And, gadget freaks, if you're just waiting there to get the iPhone and play with it for months on end, just keep in mind that the original iPhone had no shortage issues until the new version was in the works and Apple stopped making Version 1.0. Also keep in mind that you're waiting in line for five days for a pricey consumer device that will likely be outdated within a year.

Come on. Wall-E would so disapprove.

[aka_tripleB]

Don't worry folk, I'll still mock you--Morons. :-|

[toosday]

So, does this mean that "forming pointless queues" has officially jumped the shark? I think so.

[Perry_Clease]

"So, does this mean that "forming pointless queues" has officially jumped the shark? I think so."

Not as much as pointless blog stories

[evagro]

What a bunch of losers. Not only is the iPhone nothing special, it's totally lame compared to the BlackBerry and I STILL wouldn't do this for the new Bold coming out.

And about the price cut...I heard that the actual data plan will be $10 more, meaning that the price for consumers isn't really changing that much. Lame lame lame.

[feranick]

I wonder why people really think Apple allows to "think different". I mean Apple makes great products, the best of the breed. But, as a phenomenon, come on, it seems really these people outsourced their brain and common sense to the Apple gods. It's just a phone, and by experience, why not just wait ONE extra days, where you can easily walk into the store and get the thing without waiting? Do these people think different? Maybe, however there are more creative, better suited, more useful ways to express how you can think different than standing in line for days for a piece of plastic. BTW, do any of these folks have real jobs?

[mariogiberti]

I will be getting one Friday, as I have held off getting a nano, as they just kept getting cheaper and better all the time. My phone contract at ATT is up this month, I live in a city of 20,000 and there will be little if no line (I think), and I can sell my old smartphone, that I got free, for $100 on ebay.

[benjwah]

"the whole "wait in line for a gadget for days on end" thing has just gotten tacky."
---
I just had to note that waiting in line didn't just now become tacky. It has always been tacky. I'm not a yankee-hating terrorist, but it's certainly a peculiar habit of your wonderful country and dare I say it, I'd find it embarrassing if I were from the US.

No offence.

[anti3g]

The published price being advertised all over for the new apple iphone 3G is $199?what they are not telling you is that price is only for new ATT customers and those current ATT customers who happen to be eligible for an equipment upgrade (according to ATT, upgrade eligibility is ?generally? determined by the amount of time remaining on a current contract). For all those current ATT customers who do not happen to be at the end of their contract, the actual price for you is $399 plus an $18 upgrade fee along with a new 2-year contract. ATT is penalizing their long-time, account in good standing, customers a whopping $200. Why is the actual price of the new iphone not being advertised for what it is?$399? It?s the same price as the old iphone with an increase in the data plan.

For more information refer to iPhone 3G at www.att.com/iphone

Existing AT&T customers who are not currently eligible for an upgrade discount can purchase iPhone 3G for $399 for the 8GB model or $499 for the 16GB model. Both options require a new 2-year service agreement. In the future, AT&T will offer a no-contract-required option for $599 (8GB) or $699 (16GB).

Current customers may also choose to wait until they become eligible for an upgrade discount. Eligibility is generally determined by amount of time remaining on a current contract and payment history.

Current AT&T customers who are upgrading to iPhone 3G will pay an $18 upgrade fee and new AT&T customers will pay the standard $36 activation fee.

[Constable Odo]

I'd like all New Yorkers to get out there to the Apple Cube and bring plenty of friends, food and lawn chairs. Show the rest of the world that Apple users are the most supportive in the world and screw the people who say you have no lives. And try to buy at least one iPhone, an iPod or Mac in order to raise up Apple's pathetic stock price. Thank you.

[jennj99738]

Uhh, anti3g, you write like anything you say is a surprise to anyone. AT&T (and every other carrier) does not let current subscribers upgrade mid-contract at no cost. This isn't iPhone specific either. It's why a lot of people chose not to buy the first gen iPhone-- thy wanted to be able to upgrade to 3g when it became available.

Similarly, the price of the iPhone is no secret. It's widely known that the data plan will be $10 more than 1st gen. If you're just trying to inform people, uh, okay, I guess. I think the actual media does a good job at that but whatever floats your boat.

I'm no AT&T fan but what you're saying is truly no big deal and certainly nothing new.

[rm_blogger]

Anti3g, Not advertising the actual price is pretty much par for the course and in line with what all of the phone companies do. AT&T and Apple are doing nothing different here. So what's the news?

[kirkules]

I love and use Macs and I don't want to stand in line for 5 days or 5 hours. I'll wait for the maddening crowd to disperse after the initial hype and circumstance is over.

[Vegaman_Dan]

Interesting that Apple chose to release the new model one year from the release of the first one. This means that each and every purchaser of the first gen iPhone... does not qualify for the lower intro price. They will get a slightly reduced one, but still- they don't get the $199 price but will instead have to fork over the higher amount. That's pretty clever to ensure that you can profit from the early adopters multiple times. If they waited a month, then all those early adopters would qualify for the lower price. Hmm- AT&T is making out like a bandit on this one. Congratulations, AT&T Go for it! Take people for every penny you can. That will show them your true dedication to customer service. (irony- Below this is a sponsored CNET link from iphonecellstore.com that is promoting 3G iPhones in stock NOW for $394. That doesn't sound very legit if the model hasn't been released yet- how is it that CNET can allow sponsors that lie? What does that say for CNET? I hope they yank those ads immediately.)

[AppleRocks1963]

When's the last time anyone waited for anything Microsoft was putting out?

[Bob_299]

Sorry about being a difficult person, but how are you going to get sunburned in a thunderstorm?

[NDBentley]

I didn't buy the first one because I want to wait till it gets better. I will buy this one but don't expect me to stand inline with all those fanboys. I hate waiting even at the super market. I'll get it at my own convenience. I have ATT right around the corner from me. I'll be using my tax stimulus check that I got.

[grogling]

Most people are still too uninformed to realize that AT&T's version of UMTS / AWS is still going to be only about 40-60% faster than current GSM / EDGE speeds. AT&T isn't making the 1st rev of AWS (capable of up to 5Mbps) available at full throttle to the general public. EvDO still wins.

Don't believe me? Try a throughput test... I'll wait for a better phone running Android or some other phone OS with unrestricted capabilities in place of a flashy UI. I like apple, but the iPhone has been little more than a joke.

[sting7k]

Never buying an apple product again on day one. I got my iPhone at an AT&T store last year on day one, only too be slapped in the face by the company that is supposedly better than everyone else when they dropped the price by $200. I am still on the fence about getting the iphone 3G. The current one has really spoiled me but I am going to wait at least 1-2 weeks to do anything probably longer and see what apple does. All this camping out for days in really insane. I showed up at my AT&T store last year at 5:50pm, 10 minutes before they went on sale and I got one. I got Halo3 at its midnight launch but I didn't show up to the store until 11:45. People are freaking crazy.

[dirty55409]

Grosss! I wouldn't wait in line with hundreds of crApple fanboys even if you paid me! hahaha
cool I got the new Fallout boy album from Itunes via wi-fi! hahaha

[pcfish]

I dislike your point of view .... but if

"Wall-E would so disapprove. "

I'll accept it.